Commonplace: Vijnana
Shyam Basu, Dr. Dukari, and a few other devotees arrived. Sri Ramakrishna talked to them.
Shyam: “Ah, what a fine thing you said to us the other day!”
Master (smiling): “What was that?”
Shyam: “What remains with a man when he goes beyond jnana and ajnana, knowledge and ignorance.”
Master (smiling): “It is vijnana, special Knowledge of God. To know many things is ignorance. To know that God dwells in all beings is knowledge. And what is vijnana? It is to know God in a special manner, to converse with Him and feel Him to be one’s own relative.
“To know that there is fire in wood is knowledge. But to make fire with that wood, cook food with that fire, and become healthy and strong from that food is vijnana.”
Shyam (smiling): “And about the thorn?”
Master (smiling): “Yes. When the thorn gets into the sole of your foot, you procure a second thorn. After taking out the first thorn with the help of the second, you throw both thorns away. Likewise, you should procure the thorn of knowledge in order to remove the thorn of ignorance. After destroying ignorance, you should discard both knowledge and ignorance. Then you attain vijnana.”
M., The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, trans. Swami Nikhilananda (Sri Ramakrishna Math, 1974), 902
